Up Early!

I was sound asleep when hissy growly kitty noises awakened me...Lucy was in my arms asleep with her head on my pillow...Roxie was inching up to us...Lucy wasn't having it...now I am up reading!

However...we think that Lucy's tolerance grows daily. Here are my girls at one of their sweetest moments...sort of...Roxie always looks at Lucy with hope and love? Lucy pretty much always looks...disdainful?



Finished this...good but not as good as I wanted it to be...it's one of those good books where you end it by strongly fiercely disliking one of the main characters for her ridiculous choices. Choices a really normal smart person would never make in a million years! Ha!


Reading this...good so far...a father and daughter disappear in a storm but...did they really? The father is an attorney with some issues...he was weird just before he left...so...what is going on...hmmm...


Today...Den is making the dreaded Walmart run! He has a list...it's the boring stuff...laundry detergent, dishwasher stuff, nothing exciting but he will bring Egg McMuffins home for breakfast and then we are off to Whole Foods! Why do I think this is fun? My dad loved grocery shopping...and so do all of his kids! My sister's pantry is amazing...she shops exactly like my dad. My brother in England is the same way...he loves his neighborhood markets...my brother in Wisconsin loves grocery stores...we all must have a weird shopping gene?

We have dinner out tonight here...our fave date night place! The House Of William And Merry! I love date night!



Happy Saturday!

What I Should Do Today...But Probably Won't...

I should...

clean all bathrooms, vacuum everywhere, Murphy's Oil Soap all of the woodwork, vacuum the furniture, plump something, plan menus, get those purpley yellow flowers that I can plant in pots now, grocery shop, wash some windows, wet mop some floors, dust, organize a closet, and a million more things that I should do daily.

But...

since Den is home I will...waste time, read, play with Lucy and Roxie, sit in the sunroom, play Match Up, ponder life, watch Jake, remove Roxie from Jake's cage, make excuses not to move and delightfully fritter away the morning!

Right now?

Breakfast! Eggs! Toast! Raspberry Jam! More coffee!

I Am A Kitty Enabler! I Am!

Yesterday...the sun was actually out! The sunroom was filled with sun! Roxie innocently sat on Lucy's favorite lounger. Lucy paced the sunroom trying to decide on her attack plan. Before she settled on one...I placed Lucy's second favorite lounger in the sunroom. They both stayed there side by side for hour after peaceful hour.

See! Little Roxie Blue is barely nervous. Lucy knows she is in charge and chillaxes almost right away!

Whew!


Reading this...so good! This author wrote The Emperor's Children. The writing in this book is delicious...and the kind of dysfunction I love in a book!




Dinner out tonight...sushi and Tuna Tetaki...at Kyoto's to start off a long Easter holiday! Plus a little bit of Saki! Yum!



Now I need to vacuum upstairs and down...put things in order...catch up on The Rachel Zoe Project...my love/hate obsession!

Then read and play with kitties until dinner!

Happy Thursday!

A Hodge Podge Of Stuff?

Amazing pasta pot from Target! I would not need a separate strainer! My pasta pot in red is unavailable and has to be ordered online? Come on Target!



Rare black deer!



Tunic dress! I love comfy clothes!



Flowy dresses! I love flowy dresses!



Black dresses! I love black sundresses! I love Free People!



Summer Uggs!



Reading this...
Zenn Scarlett is an exoveterinarian treating alien life forms...large alien life forms! Yikes!


I hope to stay home and put my house in order today!
Happy Wednesday? What are your midweek plans?

I Am A Wuss About Driving In The Snow!

Yesterday I had lunch with Mary and Sue...they were formerly the "library ladies" at my school when I taught. Mary was the librarian and Sue was the library aide. Now none of us teach any more and we try to have lunch every few months. Mary paints and pretty much travels and takes classes all over the world. Sue has a really full life, too...she volunteers and travels with her husband and does stuff with Mary.

Here comes the wuss part...I kept waiting for Mary to call and cancel lunch because of all the snow...but she never did...so I called her and asked if we were still on...she said...why not...

I am freaking out about driving in the snow...she is older than I am...and she wants to come get me!

I refuse but I am on Sue's way and she picks me up...Sue's birthday was yesterday...she won't mind if I tell you this but she just turned 70! She is driving us in this blizzard as though it was nothing!

I am the youngest and the most afraid! Plus I have Den calling me all morning telling me how bad the roads are!

I have to get over my wussiness! But I think everyone is enabling me...lol...


So...I had a fun lunch with my "girls"...we talked Downton Abbey to our hearts' content...

So much fun! Mary made homemade soup and we had wine and cheeses and fruit and breads...and again...so much fun we might all have been 18 again!

It's Always About Books...Really! But Sometimes Other Stuff, Too!

Cannot put this away...now I need to read all of these!
Who is Aloysius Pendergast? What is he? These books are so good!


Kindle loaded and ready to rock and roll! I have a new love for these Swedish/Norwegian mysteries!


Cover love...and story love, too...



Egg McMuffin anyone?


Secrets...I love books about secrets...


Thank you Amazon Vine and NetGalley!

And these...Thank you Edelweiss! OMG...I want to jump into this one! Now!



And psychological suspense? As long a it's not mine...I love it!


Happy Snowy Monday! Lucy is snuggled in her toasty heated bed...while Roxie is watching the snow!

Yum!

My " in a nutshell" summary...

This is an amazing book from America's Test Kitchen filled with comfort food recipes that we have all grown up eating...however...these have been lightened up!

My thoughts after reading and trying out quite a few of the recipes in this book...

This cookbook is filled with really great and practical recipes. I love the way it is organized.
A few of the unique categories are...Baked Not Fried, Pasta Night, The Soup Bowl, A Chicken In Every Pot and about 20 more categories. The recipes are clearly easy to follow. All ingredients are easy to find. I love that there are no fake ingredients...nothing artificial or processed...just really good fresh stuff that turns into really good fresh food!

I have already made and loved the oven baked shrimp, the lighter baked macaroni and cheese, the pasta o's with meatballs...yum...and the beef taco salad. Most of the dinners that I am making this week are going to be from this cookbook...I will wear it out.

It's the way I love to cook!

What I loved about this book...

I really loved that I knew all of the recipes that were being "lightened". General Tao's Chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni salads, shrimp and grits, noodle salads, Pad Thai, and scalloped potatoes...to name just a few. There are scads of recipes in this cookbook.

Plus...I haven't even mentioned desserts! Cookies and cakes and bars and cupcakes...oh my goodness! I made the chocolate cupcakes...totally over the top!

Was there anything that I did not love about this book?

Hmmm...nothing really other than it was a nice compact size BUT still heavy!

Final thoughts...

If you want to eat the foods you love...if you want to maintain good health...if you love a cookbook that is easy to follow and filled with yummy classic light recipes...you will love this book!

Restaurant faves, classic Italian, fried foods, and chocolate desserts...I am copying these categories from the back cover...are all reconstructed in a much lighter way in this cookbook!

I loved it! My copy came from Amazon Vine!



Off to cook something yummy for lunch!